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* Centerview moves beyond London with Brexit on the horizon
* U.S. bank leases office in the 8th arrondissement of Paris
* Pigasse among top French bankers on its target list
By Pamela Barbaglia, Greg Roumeliotis and Maya Nikolaeva
LONDON/NEW YORK/PARIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - U.S. boutique
investment bank Centerview has found an office in the heart of
Paris and is hiring senior bankers to establish a second
European hub as Brexit looms, three sources told Reuters.
Centerview, which already has an office in London's Mayfair,
has rented space on the upmarket Avenue Matignon and plans to
open for business in the next few months, the sources said,
requesting anonymity as the matter is confidential.
The New York-based bank has held talks with a number of
prominent dealmakers in Paris including the former boss of
Lazard in France, Matthieu Pigasse, the sources said.
Its target list also includes Deutsche Bank's
co-head of corporate and investment banking Emmanuel Hasbanian
and Barclays managing director Yann Krychowski, who
specialises in financial services, the sources said.
The two were recently approached by Centerview but an
agreement over a possible move has yet to be found, they said.
Centerview, Hasbanian and Krychowski declined to comment.
Pigasse did not respond to a request for comment.
The bank's push into continental Europe comes with Britain
set to leave the European Union on Jan. 31. Large investment
banks and independent advisory outfits are bulking up their
presence across Europe to ensure access to continental clients.
The value of French mergers and acquisitions (M&A) rose 2%
last year to $193 billion, the third highest in the past decade,
according to Refinitiv data.
That was mainly due to a surge in outbound M&A which spiked
33% to a record $115 billion, despite a general slowdown in
European activity, the data showed.
Citi topped the French M&A league table in 2019
followed by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley with
only three independent advisory firms - Lazard, Perella Weinberg
& Partners and D'Angelin & Co - making the top 10.
Centerview ranked fourth last year for global M&A deals led
by advisory boutiques with a 2.1% share of the overall fee pool.
Lazard took the largest slice.
FRENCH ROLLOUT
Centerview is betting on a mix of junior and seasoned
deal-makers to drive its French roll-out as it wants to become
the advisor of choice for big French companies, the sources
said.
It recently landed a key advisory role representing U.S.
jeweler Tiffany in takeover negotiations with French
luxury group LVMH - a milestone transaction for French
dealmaking in the United States.
Pigasse, whose contract with Lazard ended on Dec. 31, would
help Centerview woo large French clients. He has held talks
about a senior role at Centerview in Paris but has yet to
commit, the sources said.
The U.S. bank, co-founded by Blair Effron and Robert Pruzan,
is also close to poaching two other former Lazard dealmakers,
Nicolas Constant and Pierre Pasqual, the sources said.
Constant helped Pigasse advise French cosmetics giant
L'Oreal while at Lazard, two of the sources said.
Neither Constant nor Pasqual were immediately available for
comment.
Other M&A newcomers in France include Perella Weinberg - the
investment bank founded by Joe Perella and Peter Weinberg - and
Greenhill & Co.
Perella launched its Paris office in 2018, luring French
bankers from Bank of America and Goldman Sachs while
Greenhill picked Amelie Negrier-Oyarzabal, a former Lazard
partner, to open its French hub in late 2019.
New York-based Evercore Inc tapped headhunting firm
Charta Partners last year to attract French bankers with
long-standing relationships with the country's key companies but
has yet to open a local office.
(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London, Greg Roumeliotis in
New York and Maya Nikolaeva in Paris; Additional reporting by
Gwenaelle Barzic and Rob Cox; Editing by David Clarke)
